Why is my journey to the world of anime a strange tale of rules?

Gao Hai walked quickly along the path in the green area, surrounded by Xiong Mijianzi and others who were following him.

If you don't clearly understand the true nature of this place, you might actually be deceived by its superficial appearance.

Looking at the flowers and plants around him, Gao Hai carefully avoided the occasional blade of grass that sprouted on the road, making sure he didn't step on anything while passing through the area.

The reason for doing this is simple: the caregiver management regulations that Jianzi brought clearly state the rule that "caregivers cannot damage the green areas." Just now, one of those rules was verified, and the result was that the monster controlled by Xiong Mi's personality fragments was directly torn into fries. Obviously, the measures taken here to deal with violators are quite primitive and radical, so it's best not to break the rules.

As for the rules themselves, Gao Hai had only read them once, but he had already memorized them.

[Regulations for the Management of Caregivers at Guangzhou Honda Mental Hospital]

[Nursing staff at this hospital must strictly abide by all hospital management regulations, adhere to the principle of being responsible for patients and putting them at ease, and provide patients with meticulous care and assistance.]

1. All caregivers at this facility must undergo rigorous training before being allowed to work. Caregivers who have not completed the training are not permitted to participate in the work of this facility or enter the work areas of this facility.

2. Caregivers at this hospital must strictly adhere to the patient's daily routine and manage their life accordingly. Disruption of the patient's schedule is strictly prohibited. Failure to appear at the designated time and place to perform the prescribed activities will be considered dereliction of duty by the caregiver.

3. Caregivers at this hospital must perform their assigned tasks diligently and conscientiously. Caregivers may only enter the hospital area during working hours. Outside of working hours, caregivers may only move around in the staff canteen, staff rest room, or outdoor public areas and are not allowed to enter the work area.

4. Our nursing staff are responsible for questioning any suspicious individuals. All areas of our facility, except the outpatient building, are closed to the public, and no unauthorized personnel are permitted to enter. If a suspicious individual is discovered, they must be immediately detained and the matter reported to management for further action.

5. The hospital's nursing staff are responsible for protecting all public facilities within the hospital and must not damage them, including all internal infrastructure and green areas.

6. Our nursing staff are responsible for taking appropriate protective measures for patients. To prevent patients from engaging in extreme behaviors such as self-harm or suicide, our nursing staff are responsible for providing unrestricted security to ensure the safety of patients.

7. Caregivers at this facility are prohibited from excessive interaction with patients who have not completed their treatment process. Normal interaction is permitted only with patients who have completed their treatment and are nearing recovery. Excessive external interaction can negatively impact the condition of patients receiving psychiatric treatment, and such influences must be prevented.

8. All caregivers at this facility are prohibited from being absent from their posts or being absent without leave for any reason. All caregivers have a duty to supervise and inspect each other in this regard. Other caregivers have the right to take measures to control any violators.

9. All caregivers found to have violated regulations must receive a reprimand and retraining under the guidance of management. All caregivers who join our facility agree with our working principles, and we will not easily give up on you. We will definitely train you to become a conscientious and responsible caregiver.

It has to be said that compared to the rule sheet of Alice's game, which is a mix of truth and falsehood and full of traps, Gao Hai felt that this kind of rule sheet, which says what it means and can be quickly seen even if some information is hidden, was more approachable.

As it stands, the hospital's rules still adhere to the principle that "if it's not seen, it's not a violation," which is fine.

"That building is just ahead. It looks like there's not much of a person around right now."

Xiong Mi, who was walking at the front, stopped and stood behind a tree to cover herself. After carefully observing the situation ahead, she spoke.

"That thing behind us doesn't seem to have stopped chasing us. Yotsuya, are you okay?"

After observing from behind and confirming that there was nothing unusual, Gao Haiwang looked at the girl beside him and asked.

"Um...it's nothing..."

Jianzi tried her best to keep her tone calm.

In her view, the team was not just herself, Xiong Mi, Gao Hai, and "Goto No. 1," but a total of eight people.

Of course, the four behind them were not human, but rather those deformed, twisted, and terrifying creatures.

They were originally wandering around the hospital, but perhaps because a few people passed by and attracted them, they all followed, resulting in more and more things hanging at the back of the line.

Moreover, that's not the key issue.

The girl's peripheral vision swept over the umbilical cords on those things.

That thing... is it the umbilical cord?

Those things that Gao Hai and the others couldn't see, things that only she could see, all had umbilical cords attached to their bodies, and all the umbilical cords were connected to the sky, their destination unknown.

It's not just these things that can't be seen.

Those caregivers, those patients, all the strange creatures that exist in this place.

Miko Yotsuya saw countless umbilical cords, one after another, connecting those things to the sky, scattered haphazardly on the ground, coiling around buildings, wriggling on the ground, and slowly moving among the bushes, turning the world in her sight into a hellish scene.

She didn't look up.

The girl never looked up, nor did she try to see what the umbilical cords were connected to.

I had a premonition when I saw the child.

If she looks up now, she will definitely be able to see it clearly.

See things that even Red Moon level players cannot see, see things that no one who has entered this instance so far has been able to see.

But she also had another premonition.

That is, if she really saw that thing clearly.

If she truly understood that thing and knew of its existence.

She will never be able to leave this place again.

That thing... it's definitely not from [Fujika Middle School]. It's something that covers the entire world, completely covering the copy world of the [Campus Ghost Stories] that Mr. Gao mentioned. It's something more terrifying and horrifying than anything I've ever seen before.

What exactly is it?

The girl had silently warned herself many times not to overthink or dwell on such matters.

But the more you emphasize this in your heart, the more inevitably you will think about it in your heart, about what it looks like and what its essence is.

She didn't tell Gao Hai about it.

Because deep down, Jianzi had a vague intuition that bringing this up would not solve the problem at all, but would only cause new problems.

Even saying it aloud in a mental link is absolutely unacceptable.

Even though she didn't know why, Jianzi just had this feeling. Once this was said, something bad was bound to happen. As long as Gao Hai realized that all these strange creatures were connected to something, and became aware of that thing's existence, something very bad, perhaps even irreversible, would definitely occur.

So, Jianzi remained silent, pretending not to see anything, and continued to follow the group forward.

However, even so...

The girl's gaze fell upon the building ahead, upon the countless, though at least a hundred, umbilical cords that stretched out from every corner of the building toward the sky. A sense of foreboding crept into her heart at the prospect of her exploration.

There are a lot of strange creatures in that building. Why are there so many? It looks like just a very low building.

Thinking this, the girl followed the others and stepped forward, about to move from behind the bushes where they were hiding.

Just then, a light, airy voice suddenly rang out behind Jianzi.

"Kimi-chan".

The voice of my classmate calling my name was incredibly familiar.

At that moment, Miko felt a chill run down her spine from the call that made her almost completely stiffen.

A small hand was already on her shoulder.

Chapter 75: The Girls Who Could Not Survive and the Difficult Stealth

The voice that came from behind was that of Rika Iteno.

It sounded no different from usual; it was the voice of my classmate, Kono Rihana.

However, it shouldn't have been heard at this time, or in this place.

The other person should still be in the hospital, should still be locked in the ward, and shouldn't be here.

At that moment, Jianzi almost instinctively turned around, but then suddenly snapped back to reality and stopped abruptly.

But the "Goto Number One" who was following her, who seemed to have nothing special about him except for being funny, suddenly stopped. Goto Ichiri, who was in the real world, took a deep breath, and a glimmer of light appeared in his pupils. Then, the "Goto Number One" in the instance picked up a stone from the ground and threw it in a certain direction. The things that had come looking for Miko immediately changed their target and chased after the stone.

This is a shrine maiden's blessing that Goto Ichiri possesses, originating from a shrine instance. It is also an extremely rare special blessing that, despite being a Twilight-level blessing, is not significantly suppressed within a Red Moon-level instance.

The power of this blessing is simple: select an item you can find and swap its identity with that of a person you designate.

For example, if a player accidentally triggers a certain supernatural rule and is about to be eliminated, Ichiri can use a blessing on that player, replacing the player with an object nearby, such as a cabinet, a rock, or even a spider web. This way, when the rule is triggered and the killing occurs, the supernatural entity will target the cabinet, rock, or spider web, while the player who actually violated the rule will be ignored, thus gaining a chance to survive.

The reason this blessing can work regardless of the dungeon's difficulty is simple: its target isn't the supernatural, but people. No matter how the dungeon's difficulty changes, the players participating in the dungeon maintain stable attributes, and generally, no one will resist using a blessing. Therefore, this blessing often has a remarkable effect.

At that moment, she switched the identity of the stone she picked up with that of Yotsuya Miko, making the things chasing Miko mistake the stone for Miko herself, thus stopping their pursuit of Miko.

"Beware!"

Xiong Mi had already turned around abruptly, pointing his bronze eyes at the thing that had appeared.

This……

I saw a group of girls with smiling faces and dazed expressions.

All of Miko's classmates appeared in the green area, dressed in hospital gowns. Their figures had become semi-transparent; their human aura had vanished completely, leaving only the endless resentment possessed by monsters.

Come on, Miko-chan! Come on, Miko-kun!

Those things were still murmuring softly.

Let's become Alice's best friend together!

Let's all like Alice and become Alice's friends!

Come join us! Let's become Alice's best friend!

Everything was murmuring softly, and everything around the stone, almost completely overlapping, was spinning incessantly.

"they……"

Yotsuya Miko could see the fine threads on these things, the threads connecting them to the hospital, and also the umbilical cords on them, which appeared to be of an ethereal color, connecting them to something in the sky.

They are no longer human.

All of the girl's classmates who were caught up in the incident have become part of this instance forever, becoming one of those strange creatures.

Is it like this again...?

Every time... this is the outcome for them...

Seeing that there was nothing else she could do but sigh silently in her heart.

"They turned into this after just one treatment. And it seems they can use their memories from before they died to find more people to try and convert. What a disgusting mechanism. It seems that staying in the hospital area will inevitably lead to their sudden death in a short time. Hmm, okay, stop looking and let's go. They won't be fooled by Goto's blessing for too long. We can't waste time with these things here."

After observing the creatures' movements, Xiong Mi quickly realized the situation and then signaled to Jian Zi, who was somewhat frightened, to move forward quickly.

Before leaving, Gao Hai took one last look at the appearance of those things. He looked at Ichino Rika, Ogawa Kyoko, and the other girls he had met once before, or even those he had acted with. Seeing them die tragically again, or even turn into something like ghosts, he couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion. After confirming that Miko was alright, he turned around and continued on his way without hesitation.

It's extremely difficult for ordinary people without any special abilities to survive in Red Moon-level dungeons.

After four playthroughs, these ordinary high school girls, aside from unlocking various ways to die, were basically of no use.

Even for a player like Gao Hai, who possesses extraordinary power, life is still incredibly difficult, with him dying repeatedly. It is only now, with reliable teammates, that he is no longer fighting alone.

Infiltrating the building ahead proved to be more difficult than anticipated.

Previously undetected security cameras have begun to appear in large numbers, essentially covering the entire perimeter of the building, and numerous security guards are patrolling the area. Judging from the Alice-in-the-Sea ribbons and similar items carried by these guards, it's clear they are mostly Alice enthusiasts.